from someone who's done this, I'll share some methods.
ok. yes, the dish washer method does work but I give 2 caveats to this.
1: if your keyboard is USB powered, wrap a bit of electrical tape over the usb connector or cap it with rubber.
2: relating to the above if there are usb ports, ensure they are sealed.
I have a service method of my own and it involves 3 chemical and compressed air treatments.
also an acrylic cleansing treatment to remove scratches which myself and an apple refurb company are trialing.
though I'm still a studio engineer, I still do hardware and software repairs for apple systems when needed, though down this neck of the woods, there's not that much work, so only either emergencies or restore jobs come to me, luckily most work comes through a company who knows my intricate standards. even the secrets of the job.
The dish washer method is a good idea but I advise the following first.
ensure you completely clean and discinfect your dish washer before you do this. any foreign contaminants will destroy the keyboard.
don't store loads of them in. 2 is more than enough. Any loose keys should be removed and placed in a container and hand treated.
now: my methods:
my 3 way tricks are done in the following way:
1: the initial exterior clean: I use a mix of specific cleaning acids which are readily available from certain hardware or cooks shops for kitchen cleaning (I'm talking very strong stuff here). I also use some natural methods including mixing lemon, lime and a drop of white vinegar in a spray bottle.
the above is used as a grease / label remover trick. in most cases this is the main treatment given.
2: compressed air: either use the tins of compressed air but be careful not to be agressive with them as the propellant will escape and damage any component. this is to air dust in the channels, etc. do this while holding the keyboard upside down or tilted.
3: the keybed massage. this is done with a light mist of the cleaning treatment in step 1 though there are dedicated commercial cleaning solutions for discinfecting keyboards available. you then apply a light amount to a lint free cloth and massage the keys. you can be a bit harder on them if the muck or any sticky residue is on them. once done, dry TWICE. then with a vacuum and a dusting brush fitting or a micro brush and pic, clean the channels out, etc. then after all this. a little general purpose computer wipe solution on a cloth as a final once over and polish off.
I also use this for system cleaning.
there's more to this little artform but that is experimentation and good training.
a clean mac is a sexy mac.
ed
Topic: cleaning old keyboards IN THE DISHWASHER!! (Read 7228 times)